Biden administration said one of the suspected hackers arrested in Russia was to blame for the Colonial Pipeline attack
The Biden administration is “pleased” about Russia arresting several suspected hackers, including one allegedly behind the ransomware attack that led to week-long fuel shortages last year.
A senior administration official, speaking with reporters on Friday, said Moscow had informed Washington about the arrests, and that one of the individuals involved was responsible for the May 2021 attack that crippled the Colonial Pipeline.
“I want to be very clear: In our mind, this is not related to what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. I don’t speak for the government’s motives, but we’re pleased with these initial actions,” said the unnamed official, according to Axios.
The US has been accusing Russia of planning an “invasion” of Ukraine for several weeks now, with Moscow dismissing the allegations as “fake news.”
Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it had conducted raids in three regions – Moscow, St. Petersburg and Lipetsk – targeting suspected hackers, after receiving a notice from US authorities about their alleged criminal activity.
The men arrested were reportedly members of REvil, a hacking group that specialized in ransomware attacks, and was blamed for the June 2021 attack on the meat processing conglomerate JBS and the US-based IT management platform Kaseya in July.
The Colonial Pipeline attack was originally attributed to a different gang, called DarkSide. The company, which runs the pipeline providing much of the southern and eastern US with fuel, shut down operations for several days in May 2021, after the ransomware attack affected its automated invoicing service.
The week-long disruption in supply caused fuel shortages across several states and Washington, DC. Colonial’s CEO Joseph Blount later admitted that he paid $4.4 million in ransom to the hackers, saying it was “the right thing to do for the country.”
The following month, the FBI also blamed DarkSide for the attack, boasting that it had seized about $2.3 million in bitcoin from their accounts.
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The golden carriage features images deemed racially insensitive
The Dutch King Willem-Alexander has announced that the royals will stop using a historic golden coach which features a controversial image showing colonial subjects offering produce to a white woman, symbolizing the Netherlands.
On Thursday, King Willem-Alexander accepted that the carriage, called De Gouden Koets, was offensive to a large number of people as he announced its retirement.
The carriage has been out of use since 2015 and features an image known as ‘Tribute from the Colonies.’ It depicts black and Asian people, one of whom is kneeling, presenting cocoa and sugarcane to a seated young white woman.
Also featured in the image is a seated man offering a book to a young boy. In 1896, the artist Nicolaas van der Waay said the image intended to portray the Netherlands’ gift of “civilization” to its colonies.
The image has attracted increased criticism in recent years, with critics claiming it glorifies the nation’s colonial past.
Announcing the move in a video, King Willem-Alexander admitted that banning historical objects and symbols is not the solution to dealing with the country’s dubious past, but called on the nation to face up to its colonial history.
“There is no point in condemning and disqualifying what has happened through the lens of our time,” he said.
“As long as there are people living in the Netherlands who feel the pain of discrimination on a daily basis, the past will still cast its shadow over our time,” the king added.
The coach has remained in the Amsterdam Museum following a lengthy restoration process which concluded last year. Traditionally it was used to carry the monarch to the opening of Parliament.
